New Vauxhall Frontera Coming Soon: Specs, price and release info

Vauxhall has revived the Frontera name, bringing it back as a mid-sized family crossover that sits between the Mokka and the forthcoming Grandland - which has grown significantly. It's part of a plan by Vauxhall to more clearly delineate its crossovers, which at the moment all seem quite similar in size and style. The new Frontera will effectively replace the Crossland and be available as a fully electric car or a petrol-electric hybrid. It takes some inspiration from the original by being quite simple and functional, focussed on value-for-money and space.
• The Frontera will simplify Vauxhall’s existing SUV and comes alongside the new Grandland, also due this year • A “rugged interpretation” of Vauxhall’s brand values, with space for five and in interior that's relatively basic • That said, the interior features twin 10-inch displays as standard, but with buttons for the main functions to ensure intuitiveness • Vauxhall is aiming for a sub-£30,000 starting price for the electric version - making it thousands cheaper than the (smaller) Mokka-e • It's set to arrive by September 2024

The design basically follows the blueprint of all modern Vauxhalls, especially at the front. A smooth vizor grille is flanked by LEDs that look like little axes. The bonnet has more creases than a student’s t-shirt, and around the side, yet more creases – most notably above the pronounced wheel arches and underneath the ‘floating’ shark-fin c-pillar. It gets a contrasting-coloured roof too. Around the back they’ve done that thing where they space the letters out, because apparently that tells your brain that a car is “premium”. The split tail lights are a nice touch, with the top ones flowing into the c-pillar for a sense of width. And to make it look 'rugged', in homage to the last Frontera, it gets this massive lower plastic section, two-tone.

Simple is a design theme that resonates in the cabin, which Vauxhall says has “a clear focus on the essentials”. That could be a euphemism for “cheap”, right? It’s not all soft-touch plastics and stitched leather, of course, but it shouldn’t feel built down to a price. Twin 10-inch angled screens dominate the vibe, which look great and will be fairly easy to operate - but there are still buttons and toggles for the important stuff like air con and heated seats. Steering wheel controls are standard, and all Fronteras will get wireless connectivity for Apple Carplay and Android Auto, and wireless charging. This will be a well-equipped car, and feel a step up from a Dacia.
It has the same seats as the Grandland, certified by the German campaign for back comfort and designed specifically for long motorway journeys. There's a little gap running down the middle of the base, for instance, designed to take pressure off your tailbone. And there’s loads of storage. Deep door bins, big central storage area, a sizeable glovebox, sturdy cup holders, and a rubberised shelf - so unless you put a Malteser on there, your small objects are unlikely to roll around. Boot space is proper impressive, too. At 460 litres, it's 110 litres bigger than a Mokka’s, and 40 more than the Vauxhall Astra’s. And in fact, with the rear seats folded, the 1600-litre loading hole is 315 more than the Astra’s. That’ll be the height of the thing. Plus, you can get roof rails on this that’ll hold 200kg – about the weight of a mountain bike… with a 410lb person sat on it.

Full details are still TBC, but there’s an electric version with a 113-horsepower motor driving the front wheels. The battery size isn't confirmed, but we do know it’ll rapid charge at 100-kilowatt speed and Vauxhall is claiming a range of up to 250 miles. There’s also a 48-volt mild hybrid coming – two, actually. One with 100 horsepower and the other with 136. They’re both powered by a three-cylinder petrol engine, but also capable of up to 83mph in electric-only mode.
Vauxhall says that the hybrid will be able to do “up to 50% of urban journeys” in zero emissions mode. That’s a vague claim, but it does suggest that overall fuel efficiency will be excellent. Easy 50mpg in real life. Possibly 60.

Vauxhall is full of phrases like “affordable mobility” and “being offered at an attractive price” to reinforce Vauxhall’s reputation as a value brand. It’s too early to know exactly what it's going to cost, but Vauxhall does say the Frontera is the first part of a big plan to make its electric cars much more affordable. It’s aiming for less than £30,000. Underpinning this plan, quite literally, is the Frontera’s new ‘smart cart platform’, designed to be cheap to make and shared with the forthcoming Citroen e-C3. That goes on sale in Summer 2024 and it’s expected to cost around £24,000 – 12 thousand pounds cheaper than a Mokka electric!

Having refreshed its Corsa and added full electric versions of its Astra hatch and estate to the range Vauxhall is next turning its attention to the Grandland, a new version of which is also coming this year.